Swimming doll



Aug. 3a, 1966 SWIMMING DOLL Filed March 4, 1964 M. E. HOCKMAN ETAL 2Sheets$heet 1 Fig.2

Mary E. Hockman Rachael M. Walker Frank K. Allen INVENTORS 0, 1966 M. E.HOCKMAN ETAL 3,269,056

SWIMMING DOLL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 4, 1964 E. Hockman Mar Racael M Walker Frank K. Allen INVENTORS T M ATTORNEY United States Patent3,269,056 SWIMMING DOLL Mary E. Hockman, Imola, and Rachel M. Walker andFrank K. Allen, Vallejo, Calif., assignors, by direct and mesneassignments, to Raymond J. Hockman and Mary E. Hockman, both of Imola,Calif., and Rachael M. Walker, Vallejo, Calif.

Filed Mar. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 349,197 Claims. (Cl. 46247) This inventionrelates generally to animated dolls and similar amusement devices, andmore particularly to such devices as are fioatable in a liquid andadapted for being propelled therein.

One object of the present invention is to provide an animated dollresembling a human being and which is capable of performing variousswimming strokes for propelling it in a liquid so that its motionimitates that of a person swimming.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a swimming doll ofthe type described that is readily and inexpensively constructed, yetwhich is higher durable for rugged use by a child in a swimming pool orthe like.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a swimming dollas described which can be readily adjusted to make it perform differenttypes of swimming strokes.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich of the foregoing will be set forth in the following description ofthe preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawingsaccompanying and forming part of this specification. It is to beunderstood however, that variations in the showing made by the saiddrawings and description may be adopted within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings (two sheets):

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation view, shown partly in cross section, of adoll embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view, shown partly in cross section, of thedoll illustrated in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view illustrating the connection of the arm ofthe instant doll to its body portion.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a doll embodying the present inventionshown in use while floating on water with the arms positioned tosimulate a crawl stroke.

FIGURE 5 is an electrical schematic diagram illustrating the control andpower circuit of the instant doll.

A doll embodying the present invention is shown in the drawings, and isseen to include a buoyant body member 12 having a pair of arms 13 and 14mounted for rotation on a torso portion 16 of the body member 12, andpower means such as an electric motor 17 housed within the body member12 and coupled to the arms 13 and 14 for producing continuous rotarymovement thereof. The body member 12 also includes a pair of legs 18 and19, and a head 21, so that the doll is seen to resemble the shape of ahuman body.

In more detail now, the arms 13, 14, legs 18, 19 and torso portion 16are all made of 'hollow or buoyant construction so that the body member12 when placed in a liquid is floatable at the surface thereof. A driveshaft 22 is driven by the motor 17, and has worm gear 23 at one endthereof operably coupled to a pinion gear 24 mounted on driven shaft 51.A pair of bracket members 26, 27 serve to journal the pinion gear 24 forrotation thereon. A pair of arm shafts 28, 29 extend respectively fromthe arms 13, 14 and are coupled to the pinion gear 24 so that rotationalmovement of the drive shaft 22 is utilized to rotate the arms 13, 14 inrelation to the torso portion 16 of the body member 12. A pair ofbatteries 31 are housed Within the body member 12 and coupled 'iceelectrically through a switch 32 to the motor 17, as depicted in FIGURE5, so that the motor is energized when the switch 32 is closed. As shownin FIGURES 1 and 2, the switch 32 is disposed in a positioncorresponding to that of a persons navel. Preferably, the switch 32 isof the push-push type, so that the motor can be turned either on or offby a simple pressure motion at the dolls navel. A cover plate 33 isreleasably secured in water tight relation over an opening 34 in thedolls back, so that the batteries 31 can be replaced as may be necessaryand also to provide easy access to the motor and gear mechanism housedwithin the body member 12.

An important feature of the present invention relates to the mounting ofthe arms 13 and 14 on the dolls torso portion 14, and to the relativepositioning of the two arms with respect to one another. As best shownin FIGURES l and 3, each arm is provided with a flange portion 36 thatis rotatably mounted in an annular recess socket 37 in the torso portion16. More specifically, the sockets 37 are provided on the outer oppositesides of the torso portion 16, and each socket is defined by a neck orannular flange portion 38 positioned outwardly adjacent an inner annulargroove 39, with the neck portion being of lesser diameter than thegroove. The flange 36 of each arm fits complementarily into thecorresponding groove 39. By the foregoing construction, each arm isadapted to rotate about an axis generally transverse to the longitudinalextent of the torso portion 16, while being securely mounted thereon. Byforming the arms and torso portion of a flexible resilient material, asfor example rubber or plastic compounds, the flange and socketconstruction described enables the arm selectively to be removedoutwardly relative to the torso portion, by means of resilientdeformation of the flange 36 and neck portion 38. The arm shafts onmembers 28, 29 have first ends 53 and 54 respectively connected to thearms and are seen to extend through shaft openings 41, 42 thattranspierce the side walls of the torso portion 16, and as best shown inFIGURE 3 each shaft has a rectangular cross sectional configuration atthe inner or second ends 42 thereof. Pinion gear 24 is provided withsocket members 44 and 46 on either side thereof, with each socket memberhaving a recess 47 of rectangular configuration complementary to theinner ends of the arm shafts 28, 29. When the arms are mounted as shownin FIGURE 1 for rotation on the body, the arm shafts are seen to engagethe socket members so that rotation of the pinion gear is productive ofrotation of the arms. When the arm 13 is pulled away from the torsoportion 16, as shown in FIGURE 3, the arm shaft 29 is seen to disengagethe socket member 44 so that the arm is freely rotatable relative to thebody. In addition to providing a sturdy releasable rotational mountingof the arms on the torso portion, the flange portion 36 andcomplementary annular recess socket 37 serve the additional function offorming a water tight connection so that liquid does not leak into theinterior of the body through the shaft openings 41 and 42.

In operating the doll 11, same is placed in the water as shown in FIGURE4, and the switch 32 closed to energize the motor 17, whereupon the arms13 and 14 rotate continuously relative to the body member.

With the arms 13, 14 extended in diametrically opposed relation to oneanother as best seen in FIGURES 1 and 4, the doll will simulate a crawlstroke when placed in the water on its stomach. The type of strokeperformed by the doll can be selectively varied by changing the relativepositions of the two arms in relation to one another. More particularly,one of the arms can be disengaged from the body as describedhereinabove, and then rotated to a position so that it extends in thesame direction as the other arm. The newly positioned arm can then bere-engaged in the torso portion with its arm shaft again coupled to thepinion gear. With both arms now extending in the same direction, thedoll when placed on its stomach will perform with both arms moving inunison and in the same position in relation to one another, thussimulating a butterfly swimming stroke. The arm can also be placed at 90angular relation to provide an even further variation of swimmingstrokes.

By placing the doll on its back in the water, various types ofbackstrokes can be performed by the doll. In this regard, it is notedthat the two arms 13, 14 can be completely disengaged from the body andinterchanged from the positions shown in the drawings. In this mannerthe disposition of the hands on each arm is exactly reversed, so thatthe palms of the hands are properly positioned for propelling the dollin the water by means of a backstroke.

It will be appreciated that the configuration of the socket recesses 47and complementary ends 43 of each arm shaft need not necessarily berectangular, but can be constructed of other noncircular configurationsso as to enable coupling the arms to the drive shaft 22 for rotation atany selected relative angular position. Thus by using, for example,hexagonal or octagonal configurations, even greater degrees of angularpositioning of the arms can be obtained.

We claim:

1. A swimming doll comprising:

a buoyant body member simulating a human body and being formed with apair of annular flanges disposed on opposite sides of said body member;

a pair of arms, each having a flexible resilient annular flange saidfirst mentioned flanges providing means for interlocking engagementreleasably connecting each of said arms to said body member andpermitting free relative rotational movement thereon;

a transverse driven shaft mounted on said body coaxially of said annularflanges;

power means housed within said body member coupled to said driven shaftfor selectively producing rotary movement thereof; and

coupling means releasably connecting each of said arms to opposite endsof said shaft at varying positions of rotational displacement relativeto one another for joint driven rotation of said arms.

2. A swimming doll as characterized in claim 1 wherein:

said coupling means includes a pair of members;

each of said members having a first end connected to one of said armsand a second end; and

said second ends of said members and said driven shaft havinginterlocking registering noncircular configurations providing aplurality of rotated positions of said arms relative to one another.

3. A swimming doll comprising a hollow body member simulating the torsoportion of a human body, a pair of hollow leg members secured adjacentone end of said body member, a head member secured adjacent the otherend of said body member, said body member having a pair of recessesprovided on the outer sides thereof adjacent said other end, saidrecesses being defined by an inner annular groove and a neck portion oflesser diameter than said groove disposed outwardly adjacent saidgroove, said body member having shaft openings transpiercing the Wallsthereof concentrically with said recesses, a pair of hollow arm memberseach having a circular flange portion rotatably and remova'bly mountedin one of said annular grooves whereby each arm is rotatable in relationto said body member, said flange and neck portions being constructed ofdeformable resilient material whereby said arms are selectivelyremovable from engagement with said body member, a pair of arm shaftseach rigidly secured respectively to one of said arm members andeXtending concentrically from said flange thereof through saidcorresponding shaft opening into the interior of said body member, anelectric motor mounted within said body member and having a rotatabledrive shaft, means for selectively energizing said motor, a worm gearsecured to said drive shaft, a pinion gear rotatably mounted within saidbody member and operably engaged With said Worm gear for rotationthereby, said pinion gear having socket means including a pair ofsockets disposed one on each side of said pinion gear and said socketmeans being positioned for removable engagement with the respectiveinner ends of said arm shafts for rotating the latter in response torotation of said pinion gear, and said body member, leg members, and armmembers being constructed of sufliciently light weight material to makesaid doll floatable in a liquid.

4. A doll as described in claim 3 wherein said arm shafts areselectively engageable with said sockets at different relativerotational positions.

5. A doll as described in claim 3 wherein said socket is of rectangularconfiguration and said inner end of said arm shafts are of complementaryrectangular configuration to said sockets.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,894,356 7/1959Sala 46150 X FOREIGN PATENTS 447,125 4/1949 Italy.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. B. LEONARD, L. I. BOVASSO,

Assistant Examiners.

1. A SWIMMING DOLL COMPRISING: A BUOYANT BODY MEMBER SIMULATING A HUMANBODY AND BEING FORMED WITH A PAIR OF ANNULAR FLANGES DISPOSED ONOPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID BODY MEMBER; A PAIR OF ARMS, EACH HAVING AFLEXIBLE RESILIENT ANNULAR FLANGE SAID FIRST MENTIONED FLANGES PROVIDINGMEANS FOR INTERLOCKING ENGAGEMENT RELEASABLY CONNECTING EACH OF SAIDARMS TO SAID BODY MEMBER AND PERMITTING FREE RELATIVE ROTATIONALMOVEMENT THEREON; A TRANSVERSE DRIVEN SHAFT MOUNTED ON SAID BODYCOAXIALLY OF SAID ANNULAR FLANGES; POWER MEANS HOUSED WITHIN SAID BODYMEMBER COUPLED TO SAID DRIVEN SHAFT FOR SELECTIVELY PRODUCING ROTARYMOVEMENT THEREOF; AND COUPLING MEANS RELEASABLY CONNECTING EACH OF SAIDARMS TO OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID SHAFT AT VARYING POSITIONS OF ROTATIONALDISPLACEMENT RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER FOR JOINT DRIVEN ROTATION OF SAIDARMS.